A source close to Shirley, the father of Amber’s two-year-old daughter, Leah, tells Life & Style that on Tuesday, June 14, at roughly 9 a.m., the former couple had a heated argument over the phone.

“She said she was mad because he cheated on her,” says the friend, “but he thinks that was just [an excuse] to pick a fight with him, because it happened two years ago. She said she was so upset, she was going to kill herself.”

Having heard such threats from Amber before, a frustrated Gary Shirley told her to “go ahead.”

Amber’s chilling response:

“Okay, when you come check on me, I’ll be in the garage with a rope around my neck and you’ll find my body there.”

Portwood then hung up the phone, and didn’t respond to the multiple texts Shirley sent to her cell. Concerned, he then asked his mother to go check on Amber, but when she arrived at the house, the door was locked.

It’s believed that it was at this time that the police were called, and Portwood’s landlord helped them get into the house to find her unconscious with what appeared to be a rope tied around her neck. Emergency officials rushed Amber to the nearby to St. John’s Hospital in Anderson, Indiana, where she was visited by Gary, 24.

The source says that Gary was disturbed when he finally saw Amber, who told him about her attempt to kill herself, describing it as if it were something almost sensual: “It was the best feeling. I love the way it made me feel. It was euphoric. It was wonderful.”

In that moment, Shirley’s friend says that he “felt like trash — to be standing there with the mother of his child, who just attempted suicide.”

Amber’s reaction led to yet another argument between the young parents, that ended with Gary walking out of the hospital.

A member of Amber’s family who spoke to her over the phone says that Portwood is beginning to recover.